Rory and Daralyn's story is on track for its September 30 release date, and you can PRE-ORDER it now from all the usual vendors. The print version will release a few days before the official release date. I've listed all the buy links below the pretty teaser graphic.
Rory was first introduced in Rough Canvas, Marcus and Thomas's story. Rory is Thomas's brother, and for those of you who read that book, you know Rory is in a wheelchair. Want an interesting bit of trivia? Rough Canvas was the first time I wrote a M/m storyline. Now, with Rory's story, I'll be embracing another first; writing a paraplegic romance hero. However, ever since I read Ann Jacobs' hero Gray in Bittersweet Homecoming, a book that's still on my keeper shelf, I've wanted to go down that road.
Another first will be writing a character who is embracing his Dominant orientation for the very first time. Rory's always had the potential within him, but it's with Daralyn he will explore it for the first time. Not too long ago a reader had asked me if I would ever write about a hero learning to be a Dom as part of the main story (versus a flashback explaining how he became a Dom). The muse must have listened!
Here are the pre-order buy links. Hope you'll look forward to reading Rory and Daralyn's book. Like all the Nature of Desire series stories (with the exception of Mirror of My Soul, which was part two of Ice Queen), it can standalone, though you will meet characters from the other books, like Marcus and Thomas.
No audio version in the works right now; if that changes, you all will be the first to know!
The journey toward one another has been difficult for Daralyn and Rory. However, Rory will be the first to say his path has been easier, because he's had the love and support of his family. Until she was fifteen, Daralyn had no one in her corner. So learning to trust in Rory's love and mastery is a difficult obstacle for her.
I mentioned above that Rory is just discovering how to express his Dominant side and become the kind of Master she needs. Fortunately, he has the help and guidance of some of our best known Dominants in the Nature of Desire series.
Marcus, his brother-in-law (and one of the heroes of Rough Canvas), takes the role of mentor. But it turns out Tyler and Marguerite of Ice Queen and Mirror of My Soul also have a part to play. As well as Desmond of Worth the Wait! While you don't have to read any of those books to read In His Arms, you may enjoy checking them out while waiting on the release date. Particularly if one of these books is FREE, right?
Yes, you heard that right. Beginning August 15 (and possibly sooner), Worth the Wait, the standalone story of Des and Julie, will be available as a free ebook domestically and internationally (wherever the country restrictions allow). Though Des doesn't know Rory at the start of Worth the Wait, the two men had an unexpected kinship, and not just because they're both Dominants. Des also struggles with a physical challenge that can impact his future with Julie and their life together (insulin resistant Type I diabetes). Julie comes to North Carolina to get an erotic theater up and running, and that's when she crosses paths with the quiet, sexy roofer who also happens to be one of the BDSM community's top rope artists.
You can check the buy links on the book's web page as we get close to August 15 to see if it goes up free at the vendors before then, but don't worry - once it is free, I'll announce it on the social media platforms. Since it will be free until In His Arms' release day, September 30, I'll also have all the download links for you in the September newsletter.
As an author of both M/f and F/m books, over the years I've noticed a trend of different reader reactions to Female Dommes versus Male Doms. I went to my readers to get some insight into the whys of it. The result was a great discussion about how Dominance expressed by women and men can differ, and how we react to it as readers. Smexy Books was kind enough to post the discussion - you can read it here and decide what your thoughts are about it.
On August 14, I'll host Fun Friday with Desiree Holt at her Desiree's Darlings Facebook group. Since Desiree and I co-authored Nightfall some years ago, which was a marriage between my vampires and her cowboys, we'll have a lot of posts, games and giveaways that revolve around these two hero genre favorites. If you'd like, go ahead and Join Desiree's Darlings now so you won't miss anything!
When the Passionflix channel launched a couple years back, I admit I was a bit skeptical. They'd announced their intentions to produce movies based on current beloved romance books, but initially they appeared to be offering mostly old romance movies. I was disappointed when they told me they didn't have plans to include BDSM romance in their offerings, at least in the beginning. But I understood. Even in book form, romance had to get "beyond the bedroom door," and then go from there to "spicy" romance, before we could eventually cross that threshold to erotic and finally to the realm of "non-traditional" sexual orientations/preferences: BDSM, LGBT, polyamory, etc. So though I would LOVE to see some of my favorite D/s romances hit Passionflix, I can be patient. Thanks to their progress with other romance genres, I now feel far more certain it will eventually happen.
My skepticism has been receding, because I've been nicely surprised by the quality of the movies they've produced. I've watched two now, The Will by Kristen Ashley, and part one of the Gabriel's Inferno trilogy by Sylvain Reynard. I have read The Will, but not Gabriel's Inferno, so I've had the experience of the movies with knowledge of the book and without. I've liked both, far more than I expected. The Will followed the book well, and had good casting choices (particularly Chris McKenna for Jake - whoo!). Even more importantly, when I touched base with Kristen, she indicated she was very impressed by how the Passionflix production/direction staff listened to and respected her input. That means a great deal, and it showed in the end result, I think.
Sometimes what works so wonderfully in our head when we read it on a page comes off silly or cheesy when they try to translate it to a screen. At times I've thought that's just innate to our genre; other times I've thought it's because attempts to bring romance books to the screen are done by those who just don't get the genre. I think Passionflix understands romance and romance readers, or at least is trying very hard to do so, in order to offer them cable-level content they can enjoy. So kudos to them for it. I feel like my $5.99/mo subscription is well spent. Now I'm off to watch Part 2 of Gabriel's Inferno...and possibly to watch that boxing match scene in The Will one more time, lol...
I'm starting the second edit round for In His Arms, after which the manuscript will be turned over to my regular critique team for craft/content review. It will also be provided to a team of volunteer experts (thank the God/dess for all of them) who have first hand or caregiver knowledge of the challenges and day-to-day experiences of someone with paraplegia. While the romance genre nicely allows us some latitude for idealizing certain elements of a relationship, I think the realism of the emotional and physical struggles of the characters are what delivers the intensity of a good love story. So I want Rory's character to reflect just how sexy and appealing he actually is - even with the less "romantic" aspects of his disability.
WHAT ELSE? If you've read At Her Command, at the end of the book there's a reference to a barbecue at Dale and Athena's home. I intended to include it in At Her Command, but there ended up being so much story content for that barbecue, I decided to leave it out and do it later as a free vignette for my readers. We'll see if I can have that ready for you all by January, a way to stave off the post-holiday doldrums.
Submissive Angel is my M/m Christmas story featuring Robert and Ange. The rights to the story will be coming back to me in September. I plan on writing a supplement to the story, kind of a "day after," where we tie up some loose ends about Ange's character. Therefore, when I re-release the book as a self published title, it should have some substantive new content. If I can get my act together, I'll try to get that out around Christmas.
My hope after finishing these two pieces is to start on the next Vampire Queen series novel, featuring Catriona, the Fae Lord Keldwyn's ward. We first met her in Bound by the Vampire Queen, a dryad that Jacob and Lyssa freed from her tree form. We saw her again in Night's Templar. Her hero is going to be Adan, the son of Mal and Elisa of Vampire Instinct. Adan has never been mentioned in any of the books. For a long time, I wasn't sure what gender Mal and Elisa's baby was going to be, then a key suggestion by a reader sparked the idea that she would have twins. Adan's sister is Ruth, who will likely end up with Merc of Medusa's Heart. We'll see...it's been a weird year, right? No telling what the muse will decide as we head toward the end of 2020 and I get these other stories written, but whatever else happens, I hope to give you another worthwhile love story to read.
While the 2020 SASS conference was cancelled, it is on schedule for 2021, in the same great location and hotel. You can register and make your hotel reservations now! Mark your calendars for July 8-11, 2021. I can't wait to see you all! At this moment, I don't have plans for other 2021 conferences, but if that changes, I'll let you all know.
Remember, you can find me online through my website email contact link (little envelope under Follow Me on the right side of home page) or email me directly at storywitch@storywitch.com. You can also leave a question for me under my Author Profile on GoodReads. I'm on Facebook under Joey W. Hill, and you can visit the JWHMembersOnly FB fan forum group here. I'm @JoeyWHill on Twitter, and my Pinterest boards related to the books are here.
I'd also love it if you followed me on Bookbub, Amazon or both, since that helps my books get increased visibility and recommendations on the site. And in return, you get heads up about releases and sales!
DIDN'T GET A RESPONSE? Responding to my readers, and doing so in a very timely manner (within 24-48 hours), is extremely important to me. So if you have sent a communication to me in any medium - direct email, FB, GoodReads or Twitter - and have not received a response, a technical glitch has occurred. Either your communication did not get through to me, or my response did not reach you. If you suspect that's the case, use one of the alternative communication methods to send me a "Hey, Joey, I sent you a note through email (or FB, or a tweet, etc). Did you get it?" message, and we'll make sure we sort it out. I will never intentionally ignore my readers!
Thank you so much for your support of my work!
While you can subscribe to the newsletter through my website, you may find your email host isn't letting it through, thanks to broad spam-blocking mechanisms that don't separate communications you've specifically requested to receive, from those you haven't. Regrettably, there's not a lot we can do on this side if the newsletter is hitting an email filter that is bouncing it without notifying either one of us.
However, if you think this is happening to you, and you've checked your allowed lists and done everything you can think of to get the email through, here are a couple other options:
Like my FB page or follow me on Twitter. Whenever I issue a newsletter, I will post the updated link to it on both of those, to make sure it reaches the widest number of people possible. Or...
Put https://storywitch.com/newsletter/?latest as one of your Favorite links. You can click on it anytime to see if a new newsletter has been released. I try to get a new issue out during the first 7 days of every month.
12/15/2019 - Vampire Master - Book 16 of the Vampire Queen series
08/2019 - Naughty Bits - re-release as a self-published title in print and ebook.
07/2019 - Vampire Queen's Servant - re-release as a self-published title in print and ebook.
6/30/19 - The Problem with Witches - A Crossover novel of the Arcane Shot and Knights of the Board Room series
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
09/30/2020 - In His Arms, Book XI of the Nature of Desire series (standalone)
06/15/2020 - At Her Command, Book 1 of the Mistresses of the Board Room series
03/23/2020 - Naughty Wishes, re-release of original four serialized novellas under one cover
12/15/2019 - Vampire Master - Book 16 of the Vampire Queen series
GoodReads Blog - Whenever I have something half-way interesting to say (hopefully), I post it on my blog. Check out the latest, as well as the backlog of over 80 posts!
For my most up-to-date appearances info throughout the month, follow me on Twitter or "Like" my Author Page on Facebook - I'll keep you in the loop as things happen!
August 14 - Fun Friday host at Desiree's Darlings - I'll be doing posts on VAMPIRE and COWBOYS with the wonderful Desiree!
GoodReads Blog - Whenever I have something half-way interesting to say (hopefully), I post it on my blog. Check out the latest, as well as the backlog of over 80 posts.
For my most up-to-date appearances info throughout the month, follow me on Twitter or "Like" my Author Page on Facebook - I'll keep you in the loop as things happen.
SEXY AND SASSY SIGNING 2020 - July 9-12 - next year's popular reader/author event will happen in Norfolk, VA. The theme is Sinful Fairy Tales! Click on the link above to find out more. You can also join the SASS Attendee group once you've registered.
SEXY AND SASSY SIGNING 2021 - July 8-11 - next year's popular reader/author event will happen in Norfolk, VA. The theme is Sinful Fairy Tales! Click on this link to find out more. You can also join the SASS Attendee group once you've registered. Register NOW and reserve your hotel room.
Want a Kindle signature? My books are listed at the Authorgraph site, so if you'd like a "Kindlegraph", send me a request! Just go to Authorgraph.com, put Joey W. Hill in the search line, and it will pull up my books, with a "Request Authorgraph" button beneath each.
Want a signed bookplate for your print book and a bookmark? No need to be bummed about not seeing me at a book signing. Just shoot me an email at storywitch@PROTECTED with your mailing address and the title(s) of the book(s) for which you want a signature, and I'll send you personalized bookplates anytime, free of charge. And I always send it with a signed bookmark!
HAVE YOU CHECKED THE AUTHOR'S WEBSITE?
I am ALWAYS delighted to hear from my readers, and I never mind answering your questions. However, about 90% of the general questions I receive on email can be quickly answered on my website, www.storywitch.com. And the cool thing is you get your answer in the time it takes you to do a couple clicks, versus having to type up your question and send it to me, then wait for me to emerge from my writing cave and check my email.
A lot of authors experience this now. Because we have so much more of a presence at FB, Twitter, and the like, it's easy to forget that most authors still maintain a website where you can quickly get info. On my site, you can not only find BLURBS and FREE EXCERPTS for every book I've published, you can find SERIES ORDER, including recommendations on which ones can stand alone or need specific titles to be read first. Under the In the Works page, you'll find information about UPCOMING RELEASES and what's percolating (the popular "will you ever write a book about so-n-so" question would be answered there).
Just go to my website, storywitch.com, and enjoy your visit. It is specifically and deliberately designed not to be flashy or confusing. Just look at the drop down menus at the top for what you're seeking.
Want a SIGNED BOOKMARK? I have five beautiful bookmarks, each design representing one of my series: Knights of the Board Room, Nature of Desire, Vampire Queen, Arcane Shot, Daughters of Arianne. You can look at them here (click on the one you like for a larger view). Just shoot me an email at storywitch@storywitch.com with your mailing address and tell me which bookmark you want. I'll send you two of that design - one for you and one to share!
Want a SIGNED BOOK? Bummed because you can't make it to a signing? Just email me at storywitch@storywitch.com with 1) what book you want, 2) your mailing address, and 3) if you want me to personalize it to a particular name (Mary, Marie, Marissa, etc), or no personalization, just a signature and a cheery note. I'll shoot you an invoice and, once that's squared away, the book will be on its way to you!
Want a SIGNED BOOKPLATE? Want a bookplate for your favorite JWH book(s)? Just shoot me an email at storywitch@storywitch.com with your mailing address, the title(s) of the book(s), and I'll send you personalized bookplates anytime, free of charge. And I always send it with a signed bookmark!
Want a KINDLE SIGNATURE? My books are listed at the Authorgraph site, so if you'd like a "Kindlegraph", send me a request! Just go to Authorgraph.com, put Joey W. Hill in the search line, and it will pull up my books, with a "Request Authorgraph" button beneath each.
"I have a question."
Answer: "Have you checked my website?"
I am ALWAYS delighted to hear from my readers, and I never mind answering your questions. However, about 90% of the general questions I receive on email can be quickly answered on my website, www.storywitch.com. And the cool thing is you get your answer in the time it takes you to do a couple clicks, versus having to type up your question and send it to me, then wait for me to emerge from my writing cave and check my email.
A lot of authors experience this now. Because we have so much more of a presence at FB, Twitter, and the like, it's easy to forget that most authors still maintain a website where you can quickly get info. On my site, you can not only find BLURBS and FREE EXCERPTS for every book I've published, you can find SERIES ORDER, including recommendations on which ones can stand alone or need specific titles to be read first. Under the In the Works page, you'll find information about UPCOMING RELEASES and what's percolating (the popular "will you ever write a book about so-n-so" question would be answered there).
Just go to my website at storywitch.com, and enjoy your visit. It is specifically and deliberately designed not to be flashy or confusing. Just look at the drop down menus at the top for what you're seeking.
HAVE YOU CHECKED THE AUTHOR'S WEBSITE?
"I have a question." Answer: "Have you checked the author's website?"
I am ALWAYS delighted to hear from my readers, and I never mind answering your questions. However, about 90% of the general questions I receive on email can be quickly answered on my website. The cool thing is you get your answer in the time it takes you to do a couple clicks. Just look at the drop down menus at the top for what you're seeking. You'll find BUY LINKS, BLURBS and FREE EXCERPTS for every book I've published. You can also find SERIES ORDER, including recommendations on which books can stand alone or need specific titles to be read first. Under the In the Works page, you'll find information about UPCOMING RELEASES and what's percolating (the popular "will you ever write a book about so-n-so" question would be answered there).